


Floating Up And Dreaming

by preciouslittletime



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Background Wooseok/Yuto, Harry Styles - Freeform, Inspired Slightly By Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist, M/M, Triple H being Triple H, Where In The World Is Lee Hwitaek, quarter life crises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:27:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28161669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/preciouslittletime/pseuds/preciouslittletime
Summary: But suddenly he’s yearning for this person he doesn’t know.An imagined narrative stretching out between Shinwon and this guy starting to cry at a Harry Styles concert.
Relationships: Ko Shinwon/Yeo Changgu | Yeo One
Comments: 15
Kudos: 58
Collections: Constellations Fest for Pentagon





	Floating Up And Dreaming

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! My prompt was that Shinwon and Changgu meet at a Harry Styles concert and then I kind of expanded on it by including some inspiration from Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Shinwon and Changgu are meeting at the Harry Styles Live At The Forum concert that happened December 13, 2019. They managed to score tickets, while the rest of us weren't so lucky. 
> 
> Title taken from Treat People With Kindness by Harry Styles.
> 
> Thank you to the prompter. I hope you like it!

_I've got a good feeling_

_I'm just takin' it all in_

_Floating up and dreamin'_

_Droppin' into the deep end_

_And if we're here long enough_

_They'll sing a song for us_

_And we'll belong_

**December 13, 2019 9:29 P.M.: Somewhere in General Admission**

This might be the best day of Shinwon’s life. Which is sad. Or at least it should be. 

Harry Styles walks out on stage in the same outfit he’s wearing on the cover of his album. Pristine white pants and crayon pink shirt. Shinwon screams so loud that he might pop a blood vessel.

“Please feel free to be whoever it is you want to be in this room tonight,” Harry says. Shinwon catches it on camera and uploads it to his instagram stories without checking to see if the video quality is even good enough to post. There aren’t a lot of people that follow him anyways.

He and Wooseok are crammed up against two girls standing at the barricade with a sea of people hundreds of layers deep behind him. He’s so sweaty that his hair is curling at the ends and there’s so much watermelon slush drink on the bottoms of his shoes and he _really_ has to pee. But he’s close enough to the stage that he can make out the patterns of the buttons on Harry Styles’ Gucci pants and he’s trying to commit their shape to memory.

He’s not even sure how they got tickets to the album release concert in the first place. The entire thing seemed like an elaborate joke until he was actually standing in the parking lot, staring up at the monolithic structure that is The Forum, waiting in line at an absolutely absurd hour to get the best spot in GA possible.

He and Wooseok had listened to the album at least sixty-four times and they’re singing every line like it’s an old classic. The crowd moves as best as they can in some sort of group coordinated effort to dance, elbows and knees knocking into each other in a way that only adds to the adrenaline. A crush of bodies screaming out lyrics and ping-ponging into one another. 

Wooseok tucks himself up to keep from obstructing the view, but ends up in a duet to Watermelon Sugar with one of the girls in front of them while her friend films. Wooseok’s voice cracks every time he screams “high!” and the girl is doing her best to get her arm up around his shoulders on account of their height difference. Her friend angles the camera just right to get Harry in the background of the shot.

The energy is so heady that Shinwon is practically floating mid-air. Well, it’s the energy and the fact that he’s pressed up alongside a couple other guys so roughly, his feet are barely even touching the ground. He can’t quite turn around, but the guy behind him is hitting every note in Adore You while his friend belts the backing vocals. Shinwon makes it a chorus with the girls in front of him, too, and he sticks out his arms around them so they don’t get crushed against the barricade. 

It’s not until Cherry plays that the crowd stops constricting, like a valve releasing the pressure, lights dimming to something atmospheric on stage. Wooseok has drifted up to the barricade between his two new friends and Shinwon is surrounded by an entirely new cast of people than the ones he started out with. This includes the new guy standing directly to his right.

Shinwon’s eye snags on him, and he’s way, _way_ too close to be staring as hard as he is - their shoulders are touching and Shinwon can smell his cologne and the vodka he’s obviously been drinking. But, the bright pink lighting lights up the guy’s face like a sunset, and his profile is so nice, lips full and pouty. 

There’s just _something_ about the way he’s watching Harry sing. The guy is looking up with wide eyes, a bittersweetness in the way he’s letting the music waterfall into him, rushing and powerful. There’s an unmistakable glint of tears in his eyes. His eyebrows are pinched in the center of his forehead and there’s a tight smile curving along his cheeks, like he’s trying to will away the sadness with frustrated happiness.

Shinwon has this sort of profound moment where he is presented with a visual of a song that doesn’t particularly resonate with him in the first place. The last relationship he had was almost ten years ago, in high school, with a girl, and they both knew that Shinwon was probably gay. They kissed at senior prom and it sucked, but Shinwon still spent two days in bed when she broke up with him.

But suddenly he’s yearning for this person he doesn’t know. An imagined narrative stretching out between Shinwon and this guy starting to cry at a Harry Styles concert. Shinwon thinks maybe they met and had this whirlwind romance that burns itself out too quickly. And Shinwon ends up missing him every day that they’re apart and they’re too stupid to realize they should be together. A fake story all for this man feeling things too deeply, who’s looking pretty and happy and sad and angry at another man crooning out the words: “I just miss your accent and your friends. Do you know I still talk to them? Does he take you round his parents gallery?”

The guy suddenly looks at Shinwon with a confused crease of his eyebrows and Shinwon desperately wishes he’d peed earlier. He laughs awkwardly and looks back at the stage, but he can see out of the corner of his eye that the guy is still looking, his teeth catching the light as he smiles.

Shinwon glances at him again and the smile only widens. The song dwindles into the whispered French lines at the end he only barely understands from his class in his Freshman year of high school. The guy doesn’t look away. 

Instead, he laughs and shakes his head. “Please tell me you didn’t see me crying?”

“Oh,” Shinwon shifts on his feet. “No. Didn’t even notice,” he lies.

“Good.”

They match smiles again as Harry starts up Falling and then the guy looks up at the ceiling. “Oh god,” he whines. “Another sad one.”

“If you cry again I promise I won’t tell anyone,” Shinwon says. The guy looks at him curiously and then leans in, craning his neck and offering his ear in a clear signal that he hadn’t heard the first time.

Shinwon steadies himself on the guy’s shoulder so he doesn’t accidentally do something weird and press his lips to his neck by accident. “I said, I won’t tell anyone if I see you crying,” he repeats. 

The guy laughs and then turns his head swiftly to get close to Shinwon’s ear. Shinwon notes that he has to stand on his tip-toes to just reach Shinwon’s height. “Promise?” he asks.

Shinwon holds out his pinky and the guy leans back on his heels to look down at the proffered hand with - real or fake, Shinwon can’t tell - contemplation. He looks up at Shinwon as he twines their pinkies together. “I’m Changgu,” he shouts over Harry singing through the first verse.

“Shinwon.”

They smile at each other for a second, pinkies still held tightly together. Changgu’s hands are massive compared to Shinwon’s and while that isn’t a feat, it still makes Shinwon’s belly swoop like he’s going down the hill of a rollercoaster. Changgu detangles their fingers first.

It’s hard to focus on the music after that.

Changgu is still huddled close because of the crowd and Shinwon is acutely aware of the points of contact where their bodies are touching. Bare forearm to forearm, brush of denim, hip to hip. Changgu watches the stage intensely, eyes still wide with his lips pushed close into a flat line.

And Shinwon keeps watching him. All through Falling and She and Sunflower, Vol. 6. He watches all the minute changes in Changgu’s expression. How he, true to his word, looks like he might cry through the slow melody of Falling and how his cheeks go pinkish at She. The way he sways to the songs and knocks into Shinwon’s shoulder.

And Changgu keeps turning to him to give him these private little, closed lip smiles that eventually burst into something broader and brighter as the set-list moves back to an upbeat trajectory. He bounces on his feet and mouths along to the choruses like he hasn’t quite learned all the verses like Shinwon has.

It’s funny how quickly something as important as the one musical artist Shinwon was adamant about seeing before he died becomes an afterthought. Changgu’s high cheekbones and slightly curly hair and remarkably good singing voice suddenly barging in to hog up all the attention.

Between Fine Line and Sign of the Times, their knuckles bump together where their hands are dangling at their side and Shinwon puffs out a laugh at their fingers catching. Changgu laughs, too. Exceptionally loud considering the way the audience is silent. And they almost hold hands. Almost. Except Stevie Nicks comes out to perform Landslide and Changgu is reaching for his phone, ready to film the surprise performance.

But he still flashes Shinwon an excited grin. As if he’s been sharing the performance with Shinwon all along. 

**11:04 P.M.: The Agonizingly Long Walk From The Forum to the Parking Lot**

“So who is that guy?” Wooseok asks as they walk out through the tunnel that leads into the lobby. They move snail-slow along the broken red and black herringbone carpet towards the main doors. Changgu is still ahead of them in the crowd, dialing his phone aimlessly, making calls and looking frustrated that whoever on the other line won’t pick up.

“Uh,” Shinwon rubs his neck. “He says his name is Changgu. I don’t know, he was just next to me for a bit during the show.”

Wooseok glances down at his phone as a group chat on screen flurries with texts. “He’s hot,” he says distractedly.

“Yeah,” Shinwon muses. He runs his fingers through his bangs, grimacing at how they’ve clumped together with dry sweat. 

The lighting outside is mostly just from the generator powered, temporary lights dotting the parking lots, but it’s enough to see Changgu’s face a lot more clearly than what Shinwon had been able to make inside the venue. 

Even in the washed out high wattage, Changgu is strikingly good looking. Now that they’re a distance apart, Shinwon can see the corded muscles in his arms and his slim waist where his button down shirt is half tucked into his jeans. It makes his mouth go dry realizing how much he’d gotten to touch him. Shinwon feels like he’s been struck stupid by how much he wants to put hands on him outside of the guise of an over-crowded pit section.

“He looks kind of lost,” Wooseok says, concern in his tone. “Do you want to go ask if he’s good?”

Shinwon looks worriedly at Changgu, coming to a stop a few feet away from where Changgu is standing at the edge of one of the parking lot entrances. The crowd parts around them on account of Wooseok’s incredible height. Regardless, Shinwon is jostled by people passing by. He lets out a slow exhale. “I don’t know.”

“Why not?” Wooseok nudges him. “Don’t be afraid.”

Shinwon clicks his tongue.

Wooseok sighs and grabs Shinwon by the hand, yanking him along the rest of the way to where Changgu is standing. Shinwon doesn’t have much of a choice but to follow. He mumbles out a protest, but it dies under his breath as Changgu makes a noise of frustration. 

“Come _on_ Hwitaek,” Changgu grits out as they approach.

“Hey, are you okay?” Shinwon asks. Changgu glances up, surprised, and then frowns. 

“Ugh, no,” he replies. He looks back down at his phone, pulling up the messages. Shinwon can see that there are at least five green bubbles on the right side of the screen, presumably unanswered. “I came here with my friend. I sort of lost him. Now he’s not picking up his phone.”

“Reception is _really_ bad,” Wooseok says, entering the conversation of his own volition. “Maybe you guys can just meet up at your car.”

“We took an uber,” Changgu sighs. “We were both drinking. Which is not good because Hui is a runner.”

“Runner?” Shinwon says.

“He ditches me.”

“I um...I would wait with you, but we were heading to our friends’ show after this,” Shinwon rushes to offer, internally smacking himself in the head. “Or well, I mean I could skip the show but my friend still needs a ride.” He makes eye contact with Wooseok who smirks triumphantly.

“No, I’m straight,” he says matter of factly. “I already texted Hyunggu. He’s on his way to pick me up.”

“Huh?” Shinwon asks.

“Yeah he was already coming up from Torrance, it’s not a big deal. He’s like twenty minutes out.” 

Wooseok and Shinwon have a silent argument with their eyes. Shinwon attempts to say _what are you doing_ and Wooseok says something Shinwon interprets as: _I am being the best wingman on earth and even though you didn’t ask me to be your wingman, you’re absolutely hopeless when it comes to sealing the deal_.

Well, more or less.

“Shinwon can wait with you,” Wooseok says. 

“Oh,” Changgu brightens slightly. “That’d be nice.” 

Shinwon offers him something he means to be a smile. He’s pretty sure it looks like he’s got nausea. He sort of does.

“He’s my roommate,” Changgu says in explanation, phone pressed to his ear. “I really don’t want to leave him.”

At the front gates to the lot, parking attendants are directing traffic with these orange pylon looking things. They arc light over Changgu’s face every time they motion for the far right lane to exit onto the main road. Shinwon digs his hands further into his denim jacket pockets and shrugs. “Well I kinda don’t want to leave you out here by yourself either.”

Changgu smiles. “Thanks, Shinwon.”

Shinwon wants to throw a fist in the air because _holy shit he remembers my name oh fuck_.

There are people pushing past them on the sidewalk and Shinwon and Wooseok both move closer to accommodate the influx of people. Shinwon can see how Changgu flicks through different social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter.

“I doubt he’s posted, but…” Changgu sucks on his bottom lip and releases it with a pop. “I’m pretty sure he put his phone on Do Not Disturb last week and just didn’t even realize. He’s so bad at technology. It’s like he’s a Boomer in a late Millennial’s body.”

Shinwon snorts. “How do you put your phone on Do Not Disturb without noticing?”

Changgu sighs. “I don’t know. He regularly changes the language setting to Mandarin by accident and I don’t know how. Which is pretty insane considering he can use ProTools and soundboards with no problem.”

Wooseok snickers, kicking at dirt clods along the fence. Shinwon looks at him for an explanation. “It’s for music production,” he mumbles.

“Aha!” 

Changgu triumphantly holds the phone for both of them to see. It’s held on a SnapChat story, the freeze frame not doing any favors for the subject on screen who is halfway through shoving a taco into his mouth. Shinwon leans in closer to make out the person’s face.

“Is that him?”

“Yeah,” Changgu says. “He just posted this. Who are these people? I have _no idea_ who these other people are in this video, but I’m pretty sure he’s at King Taco.”

Wooseok hooks his chin over Shinwon’s shoulder to watch as Changgu releases his thumb to restart the video. The main subject on screen is filming a guy and a girl, spinning each other in circles between the cars in a parking lot, King Taco sign glowing red in the background. Then the camera flips to somebody - presumably Hui - sitting on the back trunk of a car. He’s laughing too hard to get the taco in his hand completely into his mouth until a red-acrylic-nail hand comes up from off screen to shove it in the rest of the way.

“Kind of looks like the one by K-Town,” Shinwon considers. “You know? Like kinda by Staples?”

“How the hell did he get all the way downtown?” Changgu says to himself, turning the screen back to himself.

Wooseok still has his chin tucked on Shinwon’s shoulder when he tugs on the back of Shinwon’s jacket. “Shinwon’s got a car. He can take you down there.” 

Changgu gives them both a shocked expression. “You don’t have to do that.”

Shinwon shrugs, doing his best to look cool. As if he’s in the habit of offering strangers rides - even though it was Wooseok’s suggestion - and isn’t desperate to find any way possible to keep Changgu around. “We made pinky promises tonight. We shared something special.”

Changgu purses his lips. “You’re not going to kill me right?”

Wooseok snorts as Shinwon shakes his head. “No.”

“That kind of sounds like something a serial killer would say.”

Shinwon offers him a pinky. “No murder. You already trusted me with a deep dark secret earlier and I haven’t told anyone yet right?”

Changgu narrows his eyes. “I guess not.” He smirks as he tangles their pinkies again and Shinwon shakes his bangs out of his face so Changgu can’t see the way he’s smiling like an idiot.

“Can you give us one second?” Wooseok says sweetly. He grabs Shinwon’s hand and yanks him about six feet away. Shinwon, for the second time that night, can’t really protest against Wooseok using his full weight to get Shinwon to go somewhere.

“Shinwon,” Wooseok starts seriously. Shinwon’s back is turned to Changgu, but Wooseok looks over his shoulder to smile in Changgu’s direction. “You like him huh?”

“Is it that obvious?” Shinwon groans, covering his forehead with one hand.

“Being obvious isn’t a bad thing.”

“It is when you’re bad at flirting.”

“You are _not_ bad at flirting. Why are you always so mean to yourself?” Wooseok puts a hand on Shinwon’s shoulder and leans down a little to get to eye level. “He _obviously_ likes you too.”

“That’s wishful thinking,” Shinwon grumbles. 

“Shinwon, this guy _likes you_. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t be subjected to sitting with you in the car.”

Shinwon looks up at the sky. “Oh _fuck_ my _car_.” That fucking banana on wheels isn’t going to get him laid. Changgu would probably ask to get let out in the middle of the freeway rather than ride around in it.

Wooseok snorts. He takes a moment to look down at his phone and then quickly shoves it back in his jacket. “Look, I’m probably the last person to give you relationship advice.”

“Yeah, fair,” Shinwon laughs.

“ _But_ I think this guy likes you and I think you know that, too. You’re just being scared. And there’s nothing to be scared of.”

“You’re so wise beyond your years, Wooseokie,” Shinwon sighs. He pinches Wooseok’s cheek and Wooseok leans into it. The big baby that he is.

“When you get married.” Wooseok pokes Shinwon’s chest. “I call being the best man.”

Shinwon rolls his eyes and Wooseok sticks out his tongue before he picks up his phone.

**11:33 P.M.: Late Night Traffic on the 110**

The conversation comes easily enough. They have a lot in common. Their parents are both from Korea, they’re both first-gen, they both haven’t been back in years. Changgu, thankfully, is good at keeping conversation when Shinwon falters - and sometimes even when he doesn’t. Some people might find somebody who “talks too much” annoying, but Shinwon thinks it means they’re just really interested in the conversation.

Eventually Changgu brings up the inevitable bright yellow elephant in the room.

“Your car is…”

Changgu is cramped up on the bench seat, legs too long to go anywhere except have his knees pressed up against the discolored leather dashboard. Even though he’s in the passenger seat, the cab is so small that his thigh is pressed up against Shinwon’s, brushing every time he alternates between the gas and the brake.

“What? Your dream car isn’t a yellow 1998 Toyota pick-up truck with no second row from a used car lot in Burbank?”

Changgu snorts. “No. Not really.”

“It’s a piece of shit,” Shinwon coos. He rubs the dashboard. “But I believe in unconditional love and Iago loves me back.”

“Iago?”

“Yeah.”

“Like...from Othello?”

“Oh uh…” Shinwon laughs through his nose. “Like the parrot from Aladdin.”

Changgu laughs - louder now that it’s not being drowned out by the music. They’re playing HS1 through the cassette tape come aux cord. Ever Since New York comes through the speakers scratchy and distant. 

“So, I’m guessing you’re a big Harry Styles fan,” Changgu says casually. He leans one elbow on the door panel, resting his cheek on his closed fist. It emphasizes the puffiness of his cheek in a way that Shinwon finds devastatingly adorable.

Shinwon nods. “The biggest. I’ve liked him since he was in One Direction. People can say what they want about them, but their music was great. I think people just want to be cool and subversive and pretend they don’t like pop just to prove a point.”

Changgu appears to be listening intently, smiling when Shinwon turns to look at him. “You don’t need to convince me,” he says. “I wasn’t around for all of it, but I really liked Four.”

“Great album,” Shinwon says sagely. “Very cohesive.” As if he has any fucking clue.

“That was crazy when that girl passed out in the crowd,” Changgu says. He clears his throat and drawls out an accent Shinwon assumes is supposed to be Harry’s. “Take one very slow, very gentle step back.”

It’s not a great impression, but it’s funny nonetheless. Shinwon cackles indelicately and Changgu appears to be slightly relieved that Shinwon is laughing at all. They meet eyes for a second and Shinwon wiggles a finger in his direction while he looks back to the road where traffic is slowing again.

“I dare you to do that impression in front of him.”

Changgu puffs out his chest as he readjusts in his seat. “I think he’d love it.”

Shinwon snorts. “I bet he would.”

The new angle spreads apart the buttons of Changgu’s shirt, the upper part of his chest slightly on display. There’s a slight definition of his pectoral muscles there, a sharp cut of collarbones. Shinwon has to look away so he doesn’t crash his car.

**11:57 P.M.: That One King Taco on Pico That’s Sort Of By K-Town**

Changgu watches the same SnapChat story six times in a row. 

“He probably just left already,” Shinwon sighs. 

They’re still crammed up on the bench seat of the pick-up and Changgu’s face is lit up in the dark by the glow of the phone. They’ve circled the parking lot three times by car, once on foot, and gone inside the restaurant twice. The only thing they find in the booths are drunk strangers and a guy dressed as Santa fighting with a girl dressed as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Changgu sighs in ascent and then locks his phone. “I just want to know who these people are. I’ve never seen them.”

“Maybe he met them at the show,” Shinwon offers.

“I guess,” Changgu mutters. “Hui either doesn’t leave his room for eight weeks or he gets plastered and makes friends with total strangers.”

“I mean you made friends with a total stranger.”

Changgu turns to look at him with a scowl. It flicks away like a lightswitch, making way for an unreadable sort of expression, before he turns back to his phone. “You’re different.”

Shinwon doesn’t want to read too far into it, but his stomach flutters anyways. A stupid sort of hope that Changgu isn’t just in it for the ride and that there’s a snowflake’s chance in hell that he might actually be interested in Shinwon. But still. He’s not thinking about it.

“Wait!” Changgu shouts suddenly. He turns up the volume on his phone to the loudest it will go, speakers blowing out with how loud the bass is in the recording.

Shinwon scoots himself along the bench seat to peer over Changgu’s shoulder. On his phone screen he can see mostly just a bunch of flashing lights, some shouting between the ambient alt-rock, and then the screen gives way to the unmistakable roll of Hyunggu’s body against a mic stand.

“Oh fuck!” Shinwon shouts, pointing at the phone and accidentally clicking his fingernail against the screen. “I know him.”

“You do?” Changgu says excitedly. “Hui just posted this 10 seconds ago.”

Shinwon arches his butt up off the seat to pull his phone out of his back pocket. The action forces him partially over Changgu’s body and he jumps backwards against the driver’s side door to stop the contact. Changgu looks confused, but Shinwon is already busy trying to pull up Wooseok’s texts.

“That’s where Wooseok was going. To Hyunggu’s show.”

“That’s a big coincidence,” Changgu says sarcastically. “Do you know where he’s playing?”

Shinwon scrolls through the text messages from a few days prior. “I don’t know. Some underground venue in Silverlake.” He pauses, finding the info. “The Ice Box? That ringing any bells?”

“A couple bells. Hui has played there before.”

Shinwon nods, shoving his phone back into the aux cord and twisting his keys in the ignition. 

“What are you doing?” Changgu looks confused.

“Driving you up there,” Shinwon says as if it’s obvious. He wavers, second-guessing himself immediately. Changgu probably wants to get the fuck out of his car, take an uber the couple of miles west, and cut ties as soon as possible. If jumping to conclusions was an olympic sport, Shinwon would be a world record holder.

“Shinwon, I can’t ask you to drive me all over LA metro just to find my drunk friend,” Changgu says sternly. He crosses his arms and _oh_ not quite what Shinwon had assumed.

“Why not?” 

“Because it’s a Friday night and you probably have better things to do and you don’t even know me.”

Shinwon meets Changgu’s eyes and the engine is making that knocking sound again - loud, distending the silence. He wants to tell him _I want to know you_ . He wants to also say _you don’t even have to offer gas money, I’d pay you to let me drive you around_ . Both sound _way_ too desperate. 

“I promise you,” Shinwon laughs. “I definitely don’t have anything better to do.”

It’s not quite what he means to say and it doesn’t sound particularly cool or flirtatious or any of the things he wants it to be. Changgu searches his face, eyes softening slightly before he bites down on his bottom lip. 

“Okay,” he says.

“Okay?” The corners of Shinwon’s mouth tick up. 

Changgu puts on his seatbelt. “Yeah. Okay.” 

**December 14, 2019 12:21 A.M.: The Ice Box Which Is Inaccurately Named**

The Ice Box, ironically, is the hottest, stuffiest bar that Shinwon has ever stepped foot in. It’s painstakingly decorated in the most god-awful, 1970’s christmas decor that says _we don’t give a shit about conformity but we’re doing it in a chic, vintage way_. It’s the type of place Shinwon likes, but doesn’t want to admit he likes.

He’d tried calling Wooseok on the way over, but he doesn’t answer. Shinwon expected that. He reduces down to a single celled organism when Yuto is in the vicinity.

Which is pretty fair. Yuto is currently standing on the stage, thrift-store Hawaiian shirt completely unbuttoned, black electric guitar resting against his bare abdominal muscles. Hyunggu is doing some kind of horny whisper rather than singing, leather pants painted on his legs and upper torso incapable of being still. Behind him Yanan is alternating between multiple keyboards, seemingly capable of seeing in the dark room with a pair of orange tinted glasses perched on the tip of his nose.

It’s easy to spot Wooseok in the crowd. Hyunggu’s band has a growing fanbase of almost entirely women who are barking up the wrong homosexual tree. Wooseok is standing a full foot and half over the rest of the crowd, looking straight up at Yuto and Yuto is looking back down at him like he’s the only person in the room. Which is cute. He _also_ turns into a single-celled organism around Wooseok. If Shinwon hadn’t gotten a C- in ninth grade biology he’d probably have a pretty funny joke to make about it.

“So are they dating or something?” Changgu asks, arms crossed as they stand next to the front door. It’s such a small venue, but it’s packed to capacity.

“Or something,” Shinwon sighs. “I’ve never seen anyone more in love than Yuto is with Wooseok, but…”

“Is he not gay or something?” Changgu says, looking sad.

Shinwon tips his head back. “Oh no, trust me, that band on stage right there is the gayest band you’ll ever see in your life. Like more than The Village People.” 

A girl in front of them whips her head around to shoot daggers at Shinwon. He presses his lips together and leans close to Changgu. “Wooseok is helping produce their demo, he doesn’t want it to get in the way of the like...artistry or whatever,” Shinwon continues. “They’re both gay. We’re all gay.”

Changgu turns his head and their noses nearly touch. He smiles, secretive, like there’s some inside joke Shinwon isn’t aware of. “Yeah...I figured.”

Shinwon fingers twitch where they’re hanging at his sides. He’s grateful that Hyunggu loves a loud bassline because it hides the way his breath catches. Changgu’s mouth is really close to his. Close enough that when Changgu exhales a laugh, he can feel it against his tongue.

“Come on,” Changgu says, grabbing hold of Shinwon’s hand. “Let’s go check for Hui.”

The swarm of bodies parts and closes around them and the music is low key and rhythmic, motivating a sort of joint dance. Shinwon stumbles along behind Changgu, staring at where their hands are joined, fingers loose and curled around each other so they don’t get separated in the crowd. Changgu has a rough callus on his hand that brushes against Shinwon’s palm, tickling the soft skin. 

Shinwon holds Changgu’s wrist with his second hand as they get to the thicker part of the crowd near the front of the stage. Changgu pauses his frantic search around the room to stand still, turn back to Shinwon and look down at his hand. Shinwon’s fingers don’t even meet around the circle of his wrist.

They stand in the crowd for a moment, looking at one another while the music trickles around them. Thick and heavy like honey. Changgu’s face is barely lit up in such a dark bar, but Shinwon can see him blinking. The fan of his eyelashes fitting his high cheekbones, the way his sideburns are getting wet with sweat.

Changgu stands up on his toes to look over the crowd. “I don’t see him,” he says dejectedly. “What if he already left?”

Shinwon frowns. “Come on.”

He leads Changgu over to Wooseok, hands still held between them. He hasn’t held anyone’s hand this long since having a field trip buddy in the fourth grade. 

Wooseok, unsurprisingly, doesn’t see them approaching. He’s still staring up at Yuto as he plays out the last few notes of the song, only turning his head once the music ends and Yuto turns around to place his guitar on the stand.

“Shinwon?” Wooseok says, finally noticing him, and immediately looking down to where Changgu is by his side, holding his hand. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Still looking for Hui,” Changgu says. He doesn’t let go of Shinwon’s hand when he reaches for his phone, scrolling one handed to pull up a picture. “Did you see this guy here earlier? He posted a video on his snap story of this place.”

Wooseok leans down slightly to get a closer look and then shakes his head. “I didn’t see anyone.”

“Yeah like you were paying any attention,” Shinwon says with a smirk. “Let me ask Hyunggu.”

“Ask me what?”

Hyunggu sits on the edge of the stage, pants straining against his knees as he kicks his feet back and forth. Yanan comes to deposit himself on the stage beside him, handing Hyunggu a wine glass and offering a polite wave to Shinwon.

“Did you see this guy here earlier?” Changgu says. He holds out the phone to both of them, and then lifts it slightly when Yuto leans down to take a look as well.

“Yeah,” Hyunggu nods. “He was here with this guy and girl. They were getting really into the music.”

“What does that mean?” Shinwon says. He watches as Yuto hops off the stage to hug Wooseok from behind. It’s cute, the way Wooseok melts back into him and laughs when Yuto says something into his ear. For two people not even dating, they make Shinwon envious.

“They seemed drunk,” Yanan says flatly. “They were dancing all crazy, being really loud. They left after like thirty minutes.”

Shinwon turns to Changgu, but Changgu is giving Hyunggu a strange smile. Shinwon realizes quickly it's because Hyunggu is looking at their joined hands and pursing up his lips in study.

“Shinwonnie,” Hyunggu sing-songs. “Are you going to introduce me to your date?”

Shinwon wants to dig a hole in the floor with his fingers. Straight through the laquered wood and down into the core of the earth. He shakes his head quickly. “I’m not -- we were just trying not to get lost.”

Changgu laughs and then wriggles his hand free. “I’m gonna go ask the bartender if he saw anything.”

As soon as Changgu walks away Shinwon shoves his head into his hands and sighs. The bar is loud, but he can hear the chorus of laughter from Hyunggu and Yanan. His face feels hot, and it’s not just the lack of air conditioning.

“Come here,” Hyunggu says, pulling Shinwon by the belt loops so Shinwon can rest his head on his shoulder. He can feel several sets of hands rubbing his back through his denim jacket.

“Wooseok was right,” Yuto says. “I get why you ditched our show.”

“He’s out of my league,” Shinwon groans. “I’m gonna fuck this up.”

Wooseok pinches the shell of his ear. “No, you’re not. I told you he likes you.”

“Yeah,” Hyunggu agrees, punctuating with a kiss to Shinwon’s cheek. “He’s into you.”

“He’s into the fact that I have a car.”

“Stop doing that,” Hyunggu warns. He drags Shinwon’s face up with two palms on his cheeks, forcing Shinwon to look straight in his eyes. “Stop acting like you’re not hot. You know you’re hot. You tell us all the time.”

Shinwon’s cheeks are pressed together so roughly that his lips get smushed up when he tries to talk. “I’m joking when I say that.”

“No you’re not.”

“Fine.” Shinwon tries to scowl, but it comes across more cutesy than he intends with his face smashed by Hyunggu’s hands. 

“If you don’t get his number by the end of the night I will kick your ass. I mean that so, so lovingly.”

“Fine.” This time he smiles. His top lip curls up so much that it touches the tip of his nose.

Hyunggu lets him go with a hard stare and another kiss on the cheek. He stands upright just as Changgu is meandering back through the bodies in the room and he shakes his head as soon as he makes eye contact with Shinwon.

“Bartender says they left,” Changgu frowns. “Like thirty minutes before we got here maybe? I don’t know. It’s another dead end.” 

“Check his Snap story again.”

The boys crowd around Changgu’s phone as he flicks through the first two videos from the beginning. The taco being shoved in Hui’s mouth and then the bright stage light glowing over Hyunggu. Sure enough, there’s a third video now.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Changgu grumbles.

This time it’s much clearer who is in the video. The girl has bright orange-dyed hair, long when she pushes it behind her ears to lick a stripe of salt off another woman’s neck. Her red lips split around a smile, and then she’s dragging the other guy Hui was with into frame. He’s got a lime between his fingers and a slew of patchwork tattoos dotting his skin where his artfully ripped t-shirt is tugged down. Presumably, it’s Hui behind the camera who screams out a cheer and the rest of the people in the otherwise quiet bar snap their heads to look at him.

“He looks like he’s having fun,” Shinwon quips.

“Oh my god, Jinho is going to kill him,” Changgu says. He takes Shinwon’s hand. “Come on, we gotta go. One more stop.”

**1:05 A.M.: A Stoplight On Sunset Blvd.**

“So Jinho is your and Hui’s friend who works at this bar,” Shinwon says, repeating the information so he can get it right. “And it’s the type of bar that famous people go to.”

Changgu runs his fingers through his curls being rustled by the rolled-down windows. It was so hot in that bar that the chill of the marine layer feels refreshing. “Yeah. Like Jinho doesn’t even let us visit him at work. He says we’re embarrassing.”

Shinwon laughs. “Why? I mean I don’t know Hui...but you seem normal.”

“Gee, thanks,” Changgu deadpans.

“I mean you seem _cool_. You don’t seem embarrassing.” Shinwon sucks on his teeth. “I was trying to give you a compliment.” He looks out of the corner of his eye and Changgu is grinning, hair getting blown every which way by the wind rushing in through the crack in the window.

“Thanks,” Changgu says amusedly. “But Jinho has a point. He needs the money.”

Shinwon frowns. “Oh why? Is it something bad?”

“Oh no,” Changgu sighs. “Nothing like that. He’s also doing music. Which is what he’s trying to make into a career. But it’s expensive to have dreams like that.”

Shinwon makes an understanding noise in the back of his throat. He’s familiar with the concept. Dozens of the kids he went to school with had dreams to be an actor or singer or filmmaker or whatever. Not many of them succeeded, but whether they did or not, they spent a lot of time not making any money from it. 

Changgu hums. “He’s really, _really_ good. He’s probably the best singer I’ve ever heard in my life. Hui, too. But it doesn’t pay the bills, y’know? I mean in Hui’s case he’s sold some of his songs to labels and stuff, but even then...pays like shit.”

“What do you do?” Shinwon asks. Their knees knock together again as he hits the brakes before a red light. 

“I’m an actor,” Changgu says with a wince. “I work though. Like I do that full time. I have a SAG card and everything.”

Shinwon bubbles out some sort of nervous laughter he wishes he could take back immediately. He should have known Changgu was in The Industry. Changgu is undeniably handsome. Probably one of the best looking guys he’s ever seen in his life, and beautiful people are a dime a dozen out here.

“That’s cool,” Shinwon says. He clears his throat, readjusts his hands on the steering wheel as the song turns to Carolina. “Have you been in anything I’ve seen?”

Changgu shrugs in his periphery. “I’ve been on a lot of TV shows. Just supporting stuff. I’ve been a dead body on Law and Order like five times though.”

“No shit?” Shinwon laughs. “You’ll have to tell me which ones.” 

Changgu shrinks a little into the seat. “I have an IMDB page if you’re really curious.”

“That’s so fucking cool. Do you ever get recognized?” Shinwon leans on the side panel of the door and grins. 

“Never from any of the roles that matter. Always the dead body ones for whatever reason.”

Shinwon’s smile fades. “Why are you acting so embarrassed about it?”

Changgu whips his head to look at Shinwon. “What?”

“You seem like....really ashamed of having a job you actually care about.”

“I’m not,” Changgu frowns.

Shinwon’s palms get sweatier and sweatier where he’s gripping the chipping leather of the steering wheel. The silence is as consuming as the deep end of a swimming pool, just as hard for Shinwon to work his way out of with Changgu saving the conversation like he’s been doing all night. 

He’s pretty sure he’s fucked up and pissed Changgu off. Which is fair, he doesn’t know him very well. And that makes things difficult because the only ways he can think of filling to silence is to overshare.

He could tell Changgu that anyone who has even the slightest bit of success as an actor is valid and special and one in a million. He could also tell Changgu that really, Shinwon is green with envy because he’s never had a dream big enough to chase. 

He settles on: “I work with my parents.” 

“Huh?”

“I work with my parents. They’ve got this little corner store in Northridge. It’s my dad’s pride and joy. Like above his own kids I think. And my older sister is a doctor in San Jose.” Shinwon cautions a glance at Changgu and finds him staring wide eyed and close lipped. “But I’m working at the store. I’ll probably die in that store. Right next to the Goya beans. At least you get to pretend to be a dead body on TV and people see you and think _God I really need to tell that guy he plays a convincing dead person_.”

They hit another red light and it gives Shinwon the opportunity to fully face Changgu now. He finds him staring straight at the dashboard, still silent, something reminiscent of anger on his face. Shinwon doesn’t know him well enough to know if he should apologize.

“I think it’s cool what you do,” he says softly. “You probably wouldn’t have talked to me if you were super famous. Like an Oscar winner or something.” 

Changgu snaps his head up then, scowling in earnest. “Why do you say that?”

The traffic light casts a heavy red glow across his face, hair backlit by the orange of the street lights dotting Sunset Boulevard. Even when he looks pissed off, he looks pretty. Shinwon shrugs a response and then he’s saved by the bell - which in this case is a green light.

He doesn’t look at Changgu but he can feel his eyes on the side of his face. He can hear Changgu say: “I would have talked to you.” 

**1:37 A.M.: A Bar That Shinwon Already Forgot The Name Of But It Makes Him Feel Poor**

An extremely imposing bouncer is standing at the door when they arrive. He’s got his arms crossed, tucked up against his chest, creating a very wall-like atmosphere in front of the door. The front windows are covered by heavy curtains inside, but through one of the cracks Shinwon can see dozens of tables and a candlelight glow.

“Look, I get last call was seven minutes ago. We _just_ need to check if my friend is in there,” Shinwon pleads. “I swear I’m not going to stay. I’m going to do the opposite. Literally.”

The bouncer eyes him from his dirty white vans to his Treat People With Kindness shirt and laughs. “There’s a dress code.”

Changgu is standing at the curb, speaking into the phone and letting Shinwon do all the work. 

“Hey,” Shinwon starts. “Do you know who that guy is over there?” He motions to Changgu. 

The bouncer quirks an eyebrow. “Should I?”

“Uh, _yeah_ ,” Shinwon laughs. He scrambles momentarily, trying to remember literally any of the acting credits Changgu mentioned on the way over. Instead he says: “He’s been a dead body on Law and Order. You should be so lucky to have him spotted here.”

Changgu brushes past Shinwon with a breezy smile and holds out his phone to the bouncer. He leans up on his toes to speak into the receiver. “Okay, Jinho you’re on speaker.”

The phone crackles with a harsh whisper. “Hey Tim, let them the fuck in. I’m using my fifteen for this.”

The inside of the bar is nothing special. It doesn’t look any different than any other upscale bar - it’s incredibly small, decorated in hues of tan and crystalline light. But Shinwon can tell by the patrons that it’s exclusive and _definitely_ the type of place to mark up their drinks so rich people can feel special about having enough money to buy them.

‘Tim’ practically shoves them inside by their shoulders. Shinwon stumbles slightly, catching himself before he falls on top of one of the small tables by the door, surrounded by a group of well-dressed, older women with enough plastic injected in their faces that they should have a recycling symbol stamped on them.

Changgu, regardless of his jeans, fits in better than Shinwon does. He stands a little taller, spine elongated, toe to heel with his shiny chelsea boots as he walks through the modest crowd. Shinwon watches him from the door, still a little dumbfounded how he’s gone from being handsome and unapproachable to stunning and nearly god-like just with a change of scenery.

He’s still standing there when Changgu turns to face him. He smiles softly and then motions for Shinwon to follow.

When they find Jinho, he’s speaking to one of the barbacks near the now-closed kitchen doors. He’s short, but gesticulating enough for Shinwon to know he’s the type of person to demand attention.

Jinho huffs when Changgu approaches and they both roll their eyes in commiseration. Shinwon tucks himself up against a wall as staff shove past him and patrons barrel into him on their way to the bathroom.

“He’s really a mess tonight,” Jinho says, shaking his head. 

“I know.” Changgu claps his hand with Jinho, bumps shoulders in a greeting. “He ditched me at the Harry Styles concert. I’ve been looking for him all night.”

“That’s funny. He said you ditched him for _some guy_. Said he tried to get your attention, but he thought he was interrupting something.” 

Shinwon widens his eyes, forgets how hard he’s staring until Jinho draws up his eyebrows at him. He looks away quickly, but Jinho is already laughing and pointing. “That him?” he asks Changgu.

“His _name_ is Shinwon. He’s been giving me a ride,” Changgu says timidly. He rubs the back of his neck with his palm and then frowns. “Hui is the one who ditched me for those two randoms.”

“Right,” Jinho says. Obviously unconvinced. “Anyways, they aren’t randoms. That’s Hyuna and Hyojong.”

“Should I know who that is?” Shinwon interjects. 

“They’re _influencers_.” Changgu makes air-quotes around the emphasized word. “Probably a good four million followers between them. How the hell did I not recognize them?”

“Apparently you were busy,” Jinho says, cocking his head towards Shinwon. Changgu isn’t looking at him, but Shinwon can see that there’s a slight blush on his face. “They’re pretty wild though. All three of them. Said they basically got bounced out of the Ice Box and then came here and made my life a living hell. Hyojong put up a $150 tab in an hour.”

“Jesus, did they at least tip well?”

“Yeah, big tippers. Which is good because Hui’s dumbass broke a glass and I had to clean it up.” Jinho crosses his arms, but there’s a smile behind his eyes that’s strangely fond considering the circumstances. Shinwon notes that despite everything throughout the night, everyone involved in the search party seems not to be as truly annoyed by Hui’s disappearance as they’re acting.

“Do you know where they’re going now?” Changgu asks.

Jinho checks his watch. “Some party at Nayeon’s house. I guess she’s back from Korea for a bit.”

Shinwon’s stomach tightens. “Oh god, _Nayeon_ like _Nayeon_ Nayeon?”

Jinho raises his eyebrows. “Yeah, Nayeon. Do you know her or something?”

“Who doesn’t?” Shinwon laughs, slightly unhinged. He sounds like he’s having a breakdown, and maybe he is a bit. There’s no way this entire night of strange coincidence is going to lead him to her house of all places. “I’ve been to parties there before, though. Back before she became an idol.”

Jinho doesn’t seem convinced. “At _Nayeon Im’s house_. What exactly is it that you do for a living?”

“Trust me, she’s got no idea who the fuck I am. My friend went to school with her. He’s the one who brought me along.”

Changgu squeezes his hand. “Do you remember how to get there? One more stop, I promise.”

“Of course,” Shinwon says immediately. “Let me call Hongseok.”

“I want to talk to you,” Jinho says sharply. He grabs onto Shinwon’s other hand and pulls him straight out of Changgu’s grasp. “Changgu, give us a second?”

Changgu grumbles. “Jinho. You don’t…”

“Beat it, Changgu.”

Jinho lets go of Shinwon’s hand to cross his arms firmly across his chest. Shinwon has known him for all of five minutes, but can pretty well see that when Jinho directs for something to happen, it happens.

“Fine,” Changgu bites back. “I’ll be out front.”

Shinwon watches Changgu walk away, the tight line in his shoulders giving away that he’s _actually_ annoyed. Probably no more annoyed than how scared Shinwon is this moment, however. 

“He’ll be fine,” Jinho says. “He’ll pout for like ten minutes. Just try to make him laugh when you get out there and he’ll get over it.

Shinwon lets out a fizzy nervous laugh and looks at Jinho - who’s not hiding the fact that he’s studying Shinwon like he’s psychoanalyzing him.

“Be nice to him,” Jinho says finally.

“What?”

“I said, be nice to him. I don’t know why Changgu attracts such piece of shit guys.”

Shinwon frowns. “Does he?”

“Look, I don’t know how much you’ve figured out or if you even care, but he wears his heart on his sleeve.”

“I care,” Shinwon says quickly, defensively. Less because he’s been assuming the whole time that if anyone was getting their heart broken, it would be him and not Changgu. For some stupid reason he’s become attached to the idea.

“Good,” Jinho says with a smile, a little sharper than it is kind. “Because I _also_ care. And you seem like an ok person, but I’d go to prison for that dummy.”

“Noted.” Shinwon runs his fingers through his bangs, holding eye contact with Jinho until Jinho sighs.

“Are you just going to leave him out there?”

“Yeah,” Shinwon winces. “I mean no. No. I’m going now.”

Jinho calls out to him as he walks off. “Nice to meet you, Shinwon.”

**2:42 A.M.: A Freeway Shinwon Has Driven Many Times**

The drive on the 101 north is familiar, despite the changing scenery. Back when he was a kid, Shinwon remembers falling asleep in his parents backseat, watching the retreating glow of the city in the night sky, the freeway overpasses like the canopy of trees. 

Now that he’s older it’s a symbol of returning to reality. The magic of the city dissipates back into the suburbs, the familiar landmarks on either side of the freeway as his car plummets down the fast lane. 

Hongseok texts him the address just to be safe, says he’s heading there himself now. Shinwon can mostly remember the way up the snaking roads through the hills above Studio City. But the last thing he wants to do is knock on the wrong door at 2 A.M.

“So you’re friends with an idol. That’s interesting.” Changgu is on his phone. Shinwon can’t look, because he’s doing 82 miles per hour, but he can see the glow of the screen on Changgu’s face. 

They’ve switched to playing Harry’s new album. The volume is turned down so low that Shinwon can’t even make out the song over Changgu talking. 

“I’m really, _really_ not friends with her.”

“But your friend is?”

“Hongseok went to Brentwood with her. I promise it’s not that serious. And Hongseok isn’t even like...rich. He’s just smart.”

Changgu laughs quietly, locking his phone and returning the cab to darkness. “You didn’t go there?”

“No, I went to public school. You’ll find that I’m exceedingly average. I’m not hiding some big secret about being rich or famous or something.” 

He knows that average is another word for boring. That’s how he means it.

“I went to public school, too. And not anywhere cool.”

“The San Fernando Valley is _not_ cool. Like by any stretch of the imagination.”

“It’s better than San Bruno.”

“Okay, but you still came here and got a job as an actor. Some people peak in high school. Some people peak after high school. Some people...don’t peak at all.” Shinwon implies that he means himself. Which is self-deprecating and a little mopey, but he’s not sure how else to frame it so Changgu understands.

“Shinwon, you’re not even thirty,” Changgu says encouragingly. “And I’m not _peaking_ either. _Nayeon_ is peaking.”

Shinwon snorts. “Yeah, well we can’t all be Nayeon. As much as we would like to be.” Changgu laughs in agreement and then Shinwon continues. “And seriously, I think your job is so cool.”

Changgu lets out a massive sigh. “It’s not...god. I’m sure I don’t have to explain it to you. I’m sure our parents read the same handbook or whatever. They just weren’t thrilled I didn’t go to college. And then whenever I go home they’re always like _when are you going to be in a movie, son? When are you going to get a leading role?_ Which...I get it. The handbook says they have to live vicariously through me, but sometimes it just…”

“Just what?”

“Makes it feel like I’m not doing good enough.”

Shinwon stares at the reflectors between the lanes of the freeway, blinking bright and then disappearing in a pattern. “Can I tell you a secret?” he says.

Changgu looks at him seriously. “Of course.” He holds out a pinky and Shinwon laughs when he sees it in the corner of his eye. He twists their pinkies together and then puts his hands back on the steering wheel.

“God you’re going to think I’m such a loser.” He drags his fingers through his bangs. “Like I didn’t go to college either. I barely even graduated high school. I don’t have _anything_ going for me. I never really had big dreams and I wasn’t ever good enough at anything to have the decision made for me.” Shinwon glances at Changgu to make sure he’s still listening. “I think you’re being really hard on yourself. I get the parents thing. Like...more than you know. No college, no big, fancy job, I’m _gay_.” He pauses to laugh bitterly. “But I think you should give yourself way more credit. You’re talented. You’re hot. You’re funny. I wish I could have what you have.”

Changgu is quiet for a moment and Shinwon is thinking about running the car off the road just to end the silence. He’s not sure if it was the over-sharing or the whining about his miserable life or _god forbid_ him telling Changgu that he’s hot, but whatever it was, it makes Changgu weirdly contemplative.

“Shinwon,” Changgu says gently. “Do you not think you’re hot?”

Shinwon barks out a relieved laugh and then looks to Changgu as best he can from behind the wheel. “Is that seriously all you got from that?”

“Are you gonna answer the question?” Changgu asks persistently.

“Jesus, I don’t know. I don’t have a great track record.”

“With guys?”

“Yeah,” Shinwon sighs. “Please don’t tell me we’re going to get into my dating history. I will crash this car into the median.”

Changgu laughs - loudly, one of the loudest laughs in the world and it’s not very pretty, but Shinwon likes it regardless. “Okay, but being hot and having a bad dating history are not related things at all.”

Shinwon is blushing. Honest to god blushing. He’s so glad it’s dark in the cab. “Cement medians are not forgiving, Changgu.”

“Fine, fine,” Changgu says, although he very, very clearly has more to say. He hums like he’s thinking. “Everyone has dreams though.”

“Oh so you were listening?” Shinwon says, trying to dispel the embarrassment he’s feeling. 

“Yes,” Changgu says emphatically. “And just because you didn’t like...have some pipe dream about being famous doesn’t mean you don’t have dreams. I’m sure there are things you want in the future.”

Of course there are _things_. 

“They’re pretty stupid compared to big shit like that though.”

Changgu turns to face Shinwon as best as he can with the seatbelt across his chest. “Try me.”

“This is an outrageously deep conversation for a stranger,” Shinwon mutters under his breath. 

“Yeah well I’m not a stranger anymore,” Changgu says defiantly. He taps the small space on the seat between them. “Come on, tell me,” he whines.

“I don’t know,” Shinwon groans. “God. Just a life, y’know?” Shinwon keeps his eyes on the road. “Like my own house and a husband or whatever?”

Shinwon isn’t ashamed of it, but every single person he knows has a goal that _means_ something. Wooseok, Hyunggu, Yanan, and Yuto want to make music. Hongseok wants to build his own business. All the friends he had from high school went on to college and got jobs or created a start-up or have a little cut-out of fame.

All Shinwon wants is to move out of his parents’ house. All he wants is a little house somewhere totally normal, maybe closer to his sister if he could afford it. Painting the walls whatever color he wanted and finding cool art to hang. Finding a person to spend a lifetime with, working and growing. Laying in bed late at night and just talking, waking up to a face that only changes because they’re getting wrinkles. Routine. Monotony. _Shared_ monotony.

“Your dream in life,” Changgu starts, sounding genuinely surprised. “Is to have a husband?”

Shinwon hisses through his teeth. “See, I told you! I told you it’s lame.”

“No it’s not! It’s romantic,” Changgu argues. That whiny tone in his voice is back, but this time it’s more playful. Shinwon can hear it in his voice that he’s smiling.

“Romantic,” Shinwon scoffs. 

“ _Yes_ romantic,” Changgu says with finality.

The two of them are quiet for a long time. Quiet enough that Shinwon can hear Adore You and Changgu singing under his breath. Quiet and dark, aside from the glow of the exit signs and the sound of Changgu’s voice.

**3:13 A.M.: Nayeon’s House (No She Still Does Not Know Shinwon’s Name)**

In all the years that Nayeon has been in Shinwon’s orbit, Shinwon has never been sure what her parents do so that they can afford multi-million dollar real estate. At this point, he’s not sure who to ask. It doesn’t change the fact that the one singular square foot of the mid-century modern house he’s currently standing in costs more than his car and his savings account combined. 

The party is still in full swing, despite what time it is. A mixture of blended Korean and English and too loud EDM making Shinwon _wish_ he’d been able to drink tonight. Hongseok isn’t responding to texts and the house is so big, he’s not even sure where to start looking for Hongseok _or_ Hui.

“Come on,” Changgu says. He takes Shinwon’s hand, this time lacing their fingers together, and tugs him into the thick of the party.

There’s a spontaneous dance floor made in one of the three living rooms. This one is connected to the kitchen, everything drenched in pristine white and artfully designed Christmas decorations. The people in this space are mostly lounging around, talking amongst little pockets of friends, or between two people that are very clearly on the course to hooking up. 

Nayeon is there, sitting on her own kitchen island surrounded by a bunch of girls, as always. Her perfect face accommodating a smile, the girls around her equally pretty, and most of the same girls she’s been friends with since Shinwon first met her when they were both sixteen. 

As they walk into the kitchen, Nayeon gives them a curious once over, looking for a moment like she’s trying to remember his name - which she probably doesn’t and that’s Fine. Then, her and her friends start whispering, looking at Changgu, and then down to where they’re still holding hands. All ten of them - give or take - look like they’re trying to solve a riddle.

Changgu squeezes Shinwon’s hand and then waves at the girls. “Why are they staring at us?” he says out the corner of his mouth. 

“Pretty sure Nayeon was trying to figure out why I looked familiar,” Shinwon whispers. “Now I think they’re trying to figure out if I’m gay now.”

“Oh were you not out in high school?”

Shinwon throws his head back with a laugh. “Okay, you know me well enough now to realize there’s an obvious answer to that question I think.” He looks back at the girls and feels like they’re staring little bullet sized holes through his skin. “Let’s keep looking.”

The hallways are crammed full with people. This is a feat, because of the sheer size of the house, but also because Shinwon never remembered there _ever_ being this many people here ten years ago. It’s impossible that Nayeon knows all these people. Probably even less likely that these people know her. The sub-group of individuals who even _cared_ that Nayeon got scouted the summer after senior year fit a specific demographic. Most of the people Shinwon bumps past in the hallway wouldn’t know SM from YG or all the reasons they could kill her career by doing coke off the coffee table within ten feet of her.

Big dreams mean big sacrifices, he guesses. Not that he’s ever wanted to do coke.

The main dancefloor is in one of the back living rooms, encased by floor to ceiling glass windows and a big accordion style door that opens straight to the backyard. It’s miserably hot, stuffed with sweaty bodies and a bad mix from a spontaneous DJ booth. There’s so many people that just by walking into the room, they’re a part of the group grinding on each other to the beat.

Changgu grabs hold of Shinwon’s sides to avoid being bodily thrown into him. He squeezes gently, and Shinwon jumps, knocking back into Changgu’s chest. 

“Do you see anyone?”

Shinwon shakes his head. He stands up on his tip-toes, trying to see over the heads of some of the taller guys in the room. 

Sure enough, Hongseok is right in the center.

He’s always been one of the most _blessed_ people Shinwon knows. If the ridiculous muscular definition didn’t get people’s attention, his stupid pretty face did. He wonders which of the two it was for the short blonde girl Hongseok is dancing with.

“Hong!” he shouts over the music. A few people turn to him, looking either disgruntled or confused. It takes a few times, but eventually Hongseok makes eye contact. Shinwon waves him over and leads Changgu to the corner of the room where there’s the least amount of people.

Predictably, Hongseok gives Changgu the Up-Down before he even says anything to Shinwon. It’s been a few weeks since they’ve seen each other, but the fact that Hongseok likes pretty boys remains constant as ever. Changgu seems to notice Hongseok looking and smiles in a way that makes Shinwon prickle.

“Hi,” Shinwon says pointedly. “Is it national not pick up your fucking phone day?”

“Is it national not introduce your best friend to your…” Hongseok gestures vaguely at Changgu. He’s only been here for a little while according to the conversation earlier. But wherever Hongseok was before this, he’d been drinking. Not plastered, but definitely in that sweet spot of being a complete pain in the ass based on the way he’s swaying a little on the spot.

“Changgu,” Shinwon says, emphasizing every syllable. “This is Hongseok. Hongseok, this is Changgu.”

“Hi,” Changgu says good-naturedly. He shakes Hongseok’s hand, but never lets go of Shinwon’s. “Thank you for helping me find my friend.”

“Great,” Shinwon says, clapping Hongseok on the upper arm. “Did you do a once over like I asked?”

Hongseok pouts. “Of course I did. Why don’t you have faith in me, Abraham?”

Shinwon scowls. “Can you not use my confirmation name against me? Do you want to go to hell or what?”

Hongseok keeps his bottom lip sticking out. “They’re by the pool.”

Outside there’s the spill-over from the rest of the party that hasn’t made it to one of the nooks and crannies of the house. People are swimming in the pool fully clothed, somebody brought glow sticks, there’s a slice of pizza shaped floatie with three girls seconds away from falling off of it. 

Shinwon is expecting much more fanfare after a total of four hours and a half a tank of gas used searching for Hui. 

Instead he’s laying across Hyuna’s lap, fist balled up under his chin, and feet tucked up along Hyojong’s side. The pristine white cushion they’re sitting on is barely big enough for all three of them and Hyojong and Hyuna are passing a cupcake between themselves until the last bite is finished. They look like the type of people who are _way_ too fucking cool for Shinwon’s social circle.

Hyuna points at Changgu the second she notices him. “It’s you.”

“It’s him,” Shinwon says flatly.

“It’s him,” Hyojong echoes. Hui stirs on their lap and Hyuna smiles around her red lipstick. 

“Hui has been talking about you all night,” she says. “Changgu right? And that means you’re his boy from the concert,” she grins, glancing in Shinwon’s direction.

“Shinwon,” he says, but he smiles a little goofily at _his boy_. 

“I’m Hyuna and this is Hyojong.” Hyojong waves in their direction and Hyuna pets Hui’s hair. “And Hui is ready to go home.”

Changgu crouches down to brush Hui’s bangs off of his forehead. It’s a gentle action, one that makes Shinwon think that _just my roommate_ is an undersell. “Is he okay?” Changgu asks. “He’s a handful when he drinks. I don’t know if I should be apologizing to you or not.”

Hyojong laughs under his breath. “Why would you apologize? Hui is good people.”

Hyuna nods, licking frosting off of her well manicured hands. “We had fun. He’s a great time. He’ll be sore tomorrow though I think. He kept telling us he could do the splits but…”

Shinwon raises an eyebrow. “Can he?”

Hyuna and Hyojong shake their heads in unison.

“Hui,” Changgu says softly, patting Hui’s cheek. “Wake up.”

Hui stirs and blinks his eyes rapidly, inhaling sharply and sitting upright. He rubs his eyes and seems to take in Changgu in waves. Smile breaking across his face before he yells and throws his arms around Changgu.

“Where have you been all night?” he screeches. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“I’ve been looking everywhere for _you_ ,” Changgu replies. He hugs Hui back and then extricates his arms to look him in the eye. “Seriously, everywhere. I had to follow your Snapchat to find out where you were. Why weren’t you answering my calls?”

“You called me?” Hui says. “Look! My phone is dead.” He lifts it up, tapping his thumb on the black screen in argument. Changgu rubs his forehead in exasperation. 

“We need to get you home.”

“Hey,” Hyojong interjects. “Don’t worry, our Lyft is almost here. We’re gonna drop him off before we head home.”

Changgu opens his mouth like he’s about to argue, but Hui stops him.

“Wait! Where’s the guy you were talking to at the show?” He punches Changgu’s arm. “Don’t tell me you chickened out after all of that. I _knew_ I should have gone to talk to him for you. You always --”

“ _Hui_.” Changgu rubs his hands down his own face and suddenly three pairs of eyes are looking over Changgu’s shoulder right to where Shinwon is standing. Hongseok cackles out a laugh and Shinwon feels pinned to the spot on the pool deck. Hyuna, Hyojong, and Hui all wriggle their fingers at him in unison and then Hui giggles.

“Hey hot guy! You’re still hot I see.”

“Hui oh my god please stop,” Changgu groans.

“Hi, Hui,” Shinwon says with a shy laugh. “You’re still drunk I see.”

Hui wags a finger at him. “He’s funny. Changgu, he’s funny, stop talking to me. Go talk to him.”

They have to help Hui walk through the party to the front yard. It should be easy. Shinwon has several inches of height on him, he _looks_ compact. Except Hui feels like he’s got lead feet and refuses to use them to propel himself forward. So instead of helping him _walk_ , he and Changgu are practically dragging him out the door while Hyuna and Hyojong say their goodbyes to Nayeon. 

“Thank you,” Changgu says over the top of Hui’s head. “For helping me.”

“Don’t mention it,” Shinwon grits out. “But your friend is really heavy. You’re going to have to use that Law and Order money to get me a chiropractor’s appointment.”

“Changgu,” Hui whispers. _Stage_ whispers. He’s basically hissing at full volume. “I really like this guy. Do you like him too?”

Changgu glances at Shinwon and then looks away with an uneasy smile. “Hui _please_ go back to sleep.”

“Are you mad at me?” Hui asks, looking dangerously close to crying.

They get him to the back seat of the car, flinging apologies at the driver as they position Hui upright enough to get a seatbelt across his lap. He giggles through the entire ordeal, leaning up to put wet kisses on Changgu’s cheeks as Changgu grimaces.

They’re about to shut the door as Hyojong and Hyuna crawl in the other side, quick to say their goodbyes to Changgu, but Hui grabs Changgu’s arm and pulls him downwards.

“Changgu,” Hui says. He’s still whispering loud enough for Shinwon to hear, but his voice sounds kind, more resolved. “I’m tired of seeing you so lonely. You deserve somebody to love you like the movies.”

Changgu sighs. “Thank you, Hui. I’ll see you at home.” He places his own fat kiss on Hui’s forehead before he slams the door shut.

They stand in the middle of the road as they watch the brakelights of the car fade off. Shinwon watches Changgu’s face as it dissolves into a frown.

“Do you think that was a bad idea?”

“What?”

“Letting him go off in a car like that with two strangers?”

“They seemed nice.”

“They barely spoke.”

“I’m a pretty good judge of character.”

Shinwon means it to sound flirtatious, honest. Changgu appears to understand the undertone. He looks at Shinwon with a spreading smile, nose pink from the cold and fog, laughing until his eyes curve up. He knocks his shoulder into Shinwon’s. “You could still kill me. Night is still young.”

“It’s like four in the morning.”

“We still have a few hours until the sun rises. That’s a lot of time to commit a murder.”

They’re still standing in the middle of the street. There’s no danger, but Shinwon feels bold doing it. A car could come up behind him and hit him. One of those eco cars that barely make any noise. It could mow him down right here. Death by Prius.

It might be his thinking on his mortality that does it, but something spurs him on to settle a hand flat against the small of Changgu’s back. The muscles jump under his palm, twitching from the cold, twitching from the contact. 

“Wanna go back to the party?” he asks. 

Changgu thaws under the touch, shoulders slumping slightly. “No.”

“Oh,” Shinwon says. He tries not to sound dejected. “Well, I can drive you home?”

“Why don’t we go somewhere else?” Changgu laughs. He leans a little further into Shinwon’s space so Shinwon’s arm curves around his back just so. “One more stop? What do you say, _Abraham_?”

**5:41 A.M.: Some Beach Parking Lot On PCH**

It’s still an hour or so before the sun will rise. The lightest light edging in the corner of the sky tells them that it’s getting close. Not that it will matter. It’s not like people come to the beach in Southern California for sunrises. The sun will rise behind them. Not in front of them.

They sit in the car in a mostly empty parking lot, watching the surfers on the other end of it start putting on their wetsuits. From this far away nobody can really see them. 

The crescendo of Fine Line crashes between them like the waves out in front of them. It’s too dark to see anything, but Shinwon can just barely make out the white caps before they hit the sand, glittering under the oncoming dawn.

“Have you ever tried surfing?” Changgu asks.

“No. Too scary.” Shinwon drums his fingers on the steering wheel. The hot hair rattles through vents, not doing enough.

“Scary?”

“Yeah...I’m scared of everything…”

“Thank you for everything. Again. I’m going to keep thanking you.”

“And I’ll keep telling you that you don’t have to.” Shinwon pauses, rubs his lips together where the cold air and Santa Ana winds have kept them chapped for the last week or so. “It was kind of the most fun night I’ve had in a long time. Or like...ever.”

Changgu laughs. His booming laugh, softer now, but just as loud. “You’re just saying that cause you saw Harry Styles.”

“Well...yeah. Obviously. But that’s not the only reason. Not really.”

“It was the best night I’ve had in awhile, too.”

The silence stretches on between them. Uncomfortable because they don’t know each other well enough yet to be comfortable in it. Shinwon has always felt the need to dump words into silences. Pour insignificant things into them so he doesn’t have to feel the awkwardness of them.

“My life is pretty boring, Changgu.”

“So is mine.”

Shinwon looks at him and he knows that can’t be true. Not the way it is for Shinwon. Not when he’s living at home and having to still sort his parents' mail and stock shelves and go back and forth to the same two places every day. Not when everyone around him is lugging around shovels, digging and digging and striking gold. He feels like he’s chipping at hard packed dirt with a dixie cup.

Changgu wrings his hands together, eyes trained on the horizon as it slowly comes into view with approaching sunlight. “Do you think things happen for a reason? Like fate or whatever?”

“What makes you ask that?”

Changgu meets his eyes across the tiny bench seat, leather creaking underneath him as he shifts his back. “It’s just...all the coincidences tonight. Meeting you, you driving me to find Hui. If I wasn’t with you I wouldn’t have known where to look past the tacos.”

“I mean it was a lot of coincidences?”

Changgu laughs and then shrugs, noticeably retreating in on himself. “It might be stupid.”

Shinwon isn’t good with comforting people. It doesn’t come naturally. He tries anyway, reaching across the space to put his hand on Changgu’s knee. “I’m listening.” And because he doesn’t know how else to handle emotion, he adds a small smile. “I already saw you cry remember?”

Changgu laughs. “Maybe it was fate? Or like...destiny or whatever?”

“Really?” Shinwon asks dumbly.

“I know it’s stupid.”

Shinwon smiles so fucking hard his teeth might break with the force of it. “No it’s not...it’s not stupid. It’s just like...”

“Like what?”

“I agree.”

Changgu is looking at him with careful eyes, the stagnant smell of the heater in the car, the flush of both their cheeks because nothing is warm enough to keep out the chill of the marine layer.

Changgu moves in first, giving Shinwon enough time to stop him. As if he ever would. Changgu’s eyes drift close and Shinwon studies the fan of his eyelashes, the way his lips part as he gets closer to Shinwon’s mouth. It’s been awhile since he’s kissed anyone. He forgets about the way it feels like touching a live wire, the shock bone deep. Though he can’t remember it ever feeling this strongly before.

Shinwon puts his hands on Changgu’s cheeks, stroking his thumbs along the tops of his cheekbones. The skin there is delicate, soft, cold. He turns his head to the side so he can fit their mouths together better. His lips are dry and Changgu’s aren’t - tasting faintly of chapstick when he darts his tongue out and tastes the transfer to his own mouth before licking into Changgu’s.

Changgu sighs against his lips, pulling their bodies closer along the bench seat. It’s not really big enough for both of them, the cab is still too small, but they make due as best they can. Changgu rises to one knee and wraps his arms around Shinwon’s neck, fingers brushing through his overgrown hair and around the shell of his ear.

He holds Changgu’s tapered waist, happy to finally touch him there and feel how delicate he actually is despite the muscle and bulk. He feels small under Shinwon’s hands. Tiny, breakable. A heat drops into his stomach, radiating through his fingertips as they dig deeper into Changgu’s sides. 

Changgu sighs again, hurrying the kiss until it loses its rhythm and Shinwon gets lost in it. He gets hungry, surprising himself despite how much he’s wanted to do this all night. He feels a little too greedy, pushing Changgu along the seat until he’s backed up against the passenger window, kissing him like he’s ensnaring him. 

He reaches for the buttons of Changgu’s shirt, pulling back and widening his eyes comically as he pushes each one out of its corresponding hole. Changgu watches him, chest heaving, laughing breathlessly as he lets his arms go limp at his sides. Shinwon pushes the material apart, exposing Changgu’s chest and Changgu watches him with a proud smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

And he should be proud. He should be walking around all over the place shirtless looking the way he does under his clothes. Shinwon’s fingers scramble mid-air, not sure where to touch first. He settles on placing his fingers just under the edges of his collar bones, dragging them downwards across the sparse hair on his chest, to where his skin is smooth over his abdominal muscles, and down to where the hair resumes again just under his belly button.

Changgu’s stomach jumps under his hands, startling Shinwon until they’re both laughing like air rushing out from an untied balloon. “Your hands are cold,” Changgu explains. He grabs Shinwon’s wrists, drawing them back down to his stomach, fingers splayed outwards over his sides. Changgu hisses slightly at the contact, shivering again.

“If things are happening for a reason, I’m pretty sure _this_ is the reason,” Shinwon sighs. He rests his fingertips between Changgu’s ribs. They get defined with each inhale, disappear when he breathes out.

“Yeah?” Changgu asks. It’s clearly rhetorical. He’s looking at Shinwon with half-lidded eyes, a coy smile. 

“Yeah,” Shinwon says. “So fucking pretty.” 

The album has restarted again, Golden now playing through the speakers. Changgu tilts up his chin and Shinwon kisses him again, heady and rushed like the tempo of the song. And Jesus Christ if he could ever have day-dreamed a perfect scenario, it would be this. Sunlight barely touching the sky, a boy licking the back of his teeth, Harry Styles playing in the background.

Changgu reaches down to cup him through his pants and he’d be embarrassed about being so hard just from making out if it didn’t feel so good. His hips jump forward, mouth faltering in the middle of a kiss so his jaw can fall open.

“Is this okay?” Changgu asks. Again, rhetorically. He can see the answer for himself. Feel it, too.

Shinwon isn’t one for getting his dick out in the middle of a public space. He props himself up on one of the headrests, checking to see if any cars have parked close enough to see what they’re doing. Although, he’s not sure if he even has the resolve to stop Changgu from dragging a dry palm over him through his boxer briefs. He’s not a monk. 

But he kind of wishes he _was_ based on the ragged noise he makes when Changgu does finally get a hand around him. He strokes upwards, and it’s not nearly enough and far too much all at once. Really he’d like to have Changgu in a bed. Somewhere where Changgu could actually stretch out his legs and Shinwon could suck him off like he really wants to do.

This is enough for now though. More than enough. Shinwon really isn’t the type of person to ask for more when he knows he probably doesn’t deserve what he’s already got. 

He tries to steady his breathing between Changgu’s slick mouth, over his intent stare, around the way he’s working over Shinwon, lazy and experimental. Shinwon reaches down, too. He does his best to unbuckle Changgu’s belt and work his pants down with the way Changgu won’t let go of him even for a second.

It’s weirdly intimate for something that a couple of teenagers would do. They work over each other fast, eyes heavy except for when Changgu closes his and arches his back so he can fuck his hip up into Shinwon’s hand. It’s overeager, and so incredibly sexy that Shinwon knocks his head against the window when he feels like he can’t possibly hold it up anymore.

Changgu laughs, dragging him down by the neck to kiss him again. Except it’s not really a kiss. It’s Changgu’s open mouth, soft sounds from the back of his throat, a broken whine when he blinks upwards and says, “Shinwon. Shinwon. I’m gonna come soon. Fuck.”

And he does. Over his own belly. Mostly silent until he stops holding his breath and he exhales all at once. Shinwon doesn’t even care that Changgu has stopped moving his hand. He reaches down between them, links their fingers together and uses both their hands together. It really doesn’t take much.

He comes knowing that Changgu is watching him. And for once in his life it doesn’t really matter. Changgu looks at him like he’s valuable, makes him _feel_ valuable. Sexy. Exciting. Worth chasing. He feels a little drunk on it, despite how he doesn’t believe it bone deep like he probably should.

“I hit my fucking head on the window so hard. Ow.” Shinwon rubs at his forehead with the hand not presently covered in both of their come. Changgu barks out a laugh, reaching up to push Shinwon’s bangs to the side so he can look at the quickly forming lump.

“Are you okay?” 

“I’m pretty sure I’d get a concussion if it meant doing that again.” Changgu laughs even harder and Shinwon grins brightly. “I’m serious,” Shinwon adds. “I don’t care if I’m almost thirty and dry hand jobs stop being fun outside of high school. That was so good.”

Changgu drags him down to kiss him. This time it’s sweet. Just a little peck of lips, before tucking his chin back to look between Shinwon’s eyes. “It was good,” he echoes.

Shinwon leans back reluctantly, digging through the glove box so he can find a bunch of old McDonald’s napkins. The texture is absolutely horrible on his skin, but he cleans himself up and uses the rest of them to clean off Changgu’s stomach and his hand.

“This is so fucking high school. How old are we?”

Changgu giggles, sitting up to do up the button of his shirt. The sun has started to really rise now, birds chirping in the distance. A couple of guys with surfboards pass by their car and Shinwon watches them go with a wince. He sits back on his side of the bench seat and uses the rearview mirror to put his hair back into place.

“It was good.” Changgu repeats, cupping Shinwon’s jaw and drawing the attention back to him. He kisses Shinwon again. Unrushed now that they’ve worked through the heat. Shinwon loses time in it, he can hear the songs changing in the background as the only measure of time.

In the end he drives Changgu home as the sun forces itself into the sky. Each stoplight on PCH like a kick in the gut knowing that the night is really over. He doesn’t want this night to end. He wants to grab the sun and shove it back down under the horizon. He wants to tell everyone to go the fuck back to sleep so he can get just a few more hours.

In fifteen minutes or so they’ll be sitting outside Changgu’s apartment and Shinwon is afraid his historic inability to say what he wants to say will get in the way.

And what he wants to say is that he wasn’t kidding about this being the best night of his life. That for twenty-eight years he’s never felt vibrance and excitement and what it’s like to be unsure. That being mundane and average isn’t the life he’s supposed to be having, even though it’s the life he’s got. That now he’s gotten a taste of what it’s like to want something so much you’d do anything to get it.

Changgu looks at him as he drives, tucked up against the passenger door like he’s about to fall asleep and only waking up once Shinwon catches his eyes. He laughs every time they make eye contact. 

“I kinda don’t want this night to end,” Shinwon says finally. Rushing all the words out at once.

Changgu hums. He tips his head back so he can get a good look at the sun rising above Shinwon’s head. 

“Me neither,” Changgu says, face breaking into a smile. “Are you hungry?”

Shinwon turns to him and the sun is right in Changgu’s face, making his skin glow and shine. It occurs to him that he’s never seen Changgu in the daylight. It’s the best thing he’s ever seen. 

“Yeah,” Shinwon says with a shrug. “Yeah I could eat.”

“Good. Let’s get breakfast,” Changgu says. “One more stop.”

One more stop. 


End file.
